Sprouted Grain: The How and Why

Sprouted grain – it reeks of barefoot hippies and patchouli wearing health nuts – but there’s reason behind the madness.   Sprouted grain packs a quite the nutritional rich punch and it’s worth the extra effort in preparation.   Sprouted grain is a living food rich in food enzymes, vitamins and minerals.   Sprouted grain can be eaten fresh, cooked or processed into flour for breads, sweets and other baked goods.

Benefits of Sprouted Grain

Sprouted grain is fundamentally different from whole grain in three fundamental ways: 1. sprouting grain activates food enzymes; 2) sprouting grains increases vitamin content, and 3) sprouting grain neutralizes antinutrients like phytic acid which bind up minerals preventing your ability to fully absorb them.

When examining the nutrient density of sprouted wheat to unsprouted wheat on a calorie-per-calorie basis, you’ll find that sprouted wheat contains four times the amount of niacinand nearly twice the amount of vitamin B6 and folate as unsprouted wheat.   Moreover, sprouted grain contains more protein and fewer starches than unsprouted grain and is lower on the glycemic index than its unsprouted counterpart.

Preparing Sprouted Grain

While it may take a few days to sprout grain, it’s not as labor-intensive of a process as it might seem.   All grains and seeds can be sprouted following these basic instructions.   Sprouting time may vary from grain to grain.   Take care to choose only organic, untreated grains as they tend to sprout more evenly.   In our kitchen, we sprout several cups of seeds at a time; however, you can sprout smaller amounts depending on your needs and how you will be using the sprouted grain.

How to Sprout Grain

1. Start with clean grain, so take care in sorting through it to make sure all pebbles and grains with poor appearance are adequately removed.
2. Rinse grains thoroughly.
3. Add grain to a ceramic or stainless steel crock, pouring filtered water over the grain until the grain is completely submersed under several inches of water.
4. Soak the grains overnight.
5. In the morning, pour the grains into a fine mesh sieve and rinse them well.
6. Throughout the day, rinse the grains multiple times taking care to stir them so all grains are rinsed evenly.
7. Continue rinsing the grains for two to three days until the grains have sprouted to your liking.
8. Rinse the grains one last time, drain them and either refrigerate them or dehydrate them to grind into flour.

How to Prepare Sprouted Grain Flour

1. Start with grain that has been sprouted for only a day or two.   The longer it sprouts, the more difficult it is to grind and use in baking.
2. Pour the grain into a thin layer on a mesh screen for your dehydrator and dehydrate at about 105 ° – 110 ° F until thoroughly dry.   Alternatively, spread sprouted grain on a baking sheet and set it in an oven set to the lowest setting you can manage.   Note that sprouted grain dried in an oven has inferior baking qualities as compared to sprouted grain dried through the low temperatures of a dehydrator.
3. Once the sprouted grain is thoroughly dry, simply add it to the hopper of your grain mill and grain as you normally would.

Of course, if the process of sprouting, drying and grinding your grains seems a touch daunting or time consuming, there are a handful of online shops that offer sprouted grain flours and other wholesome real foods.   (Want to find sprouted grain flour?   Try the   Flours section on the Nourished Kitchen Resources page).

Incorporating Sprouted Grain into Your Diet

We don’t eat much grain in our home, but the grain we do eat is mostly sprouted and we only use sprouted flour either prepared according to the directions above or purchased sprouted flour because they’re a very convenient way to incorporate sprouted grain into our regular diet.   Sprouted grain can be eaten in its raw form, cooked or ground into flour and baked as previously mentioned.   Take care to note, however, that cooking sprouted grain does damage its micronutrient profile as many of its vitamins are fragile and not heat stable; however, sprouted grain flour still packs a better nutritional punch than regular ground grain and is significantly easier to digest.

Eating Sprouted Grain Raw

Sprouted grains and sprouted seeds can be delicious when eaten raw and otherwise unprocessed.   Sprouted grain can be served raw as a salad and gently seasoned with salt, pepper, unrefined olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.   It’s also tasty mixed in with other vegetables in salads or served on sandwiches.

Eating Sprouted Grain Cooked

You can also eat sprouted grain cooked or baked in addition to raw.   While sprouted grain that has been cooked lacks live food enzymes, it is still easier to digest than unsprouted grain and many of grains inherent antinutrients like phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors that our largely neutralized by the soaking and sprouting process.   Sprouted grain flour can be used in a 1:1 ratio for white flour or whole grain flour.   We enjoy our sprouted grain cooked in porridges as well – particularly sprouted buckwheat porridge and sprouted rice makes for excellent sushi.

Sprouted Grain Recipes

In our home, most have the grains and all of the flour we use is sprouted.   I’ve developed several recipes that celebrate the subtle, flavorful nuances of sprouted grains.   If you’re curious about using sprouted grain or sprouted grain flour, try these recipes:

• Maple Pecan Pie with Sprouted Spelt Crust
• Sprouted Spelt & Maple Shortbread
• Sprouted Grain Crêpes
• Quince Skillet Cake

Shop Real Food

Learn to Cook Traditional Foods.

Learn the basics of maximizing nutrients through traditional, time-honored foods. Posts sent Monday through Friday.

Flickr | Facebook | Twitter